What Do Yoga and Meditation mean to us?

What is Yoga?

Yoga is the process of rediscovering our bodies and is a visceral experience of our most tangible realities: breath, body, and sensation. Yoga is not about the story of emotional pain but how to relate to it through mindful physical movement, breath, stillness, and restorative action patterns. Yoga allows for the support of the earth, gravity, and our musculoskeletal system as we learn to trust the body, trust direct experience, and cultivate the courage to be present. Yoga is feeling alive in the wonder of our bodies. Yoga allows us to notice the connections between emotions, thoughts, and our bodies. Once we start approaching discomfort with curiosity rather than fear, everything changes. In yoga, we learn that sensations, thoughts,  and emotions are always in some degree of flux. We become skilled in inner tracking: the moment by moment physical, non-verbal components of experience. The operative question in yoga is: “What am I feeling in my body right now?”

What is Meditation

Meditation is both concentration and inquiry; it is waking up to the present moment and observing breath and sensation. It is not about spacing out but instead it is all about taking a good hard look at what we are and where we’re at. Meditation helps us learn to experience emotions without being hijacked by them because we are feeling and listening from a curious and open place. Meditation is a practice for being part of the stream of life without shutting down or becoming lost in our stories. It is a physical and psychological practice in which self-awareness is cultivated through stillness and silence. We learn to be intimate with our bodies, breath, emotions, and thoughts. Meditation is being rather than doing; it is the process of learning to stay, learning to let go, and learning to start over. Meditation is a daily act of love, peace, and compassion. Meditation is a practice, and like the other limbs of yoga, requires discipline, self-study, and surrender. We find the “strength” to experience breath, sensations, emotions, and thoughts and the “flexibility” to return to a place of equanimity and calm. We become free through rather than from our pain.